Digitalbox PLC (AIM:DBOX) expects to report revenues of £1.2 million and £2.3 million net cash position as of 30 June in the digital media group’s upcoming interim earnings.
Digitalbox, which owns Entertainment Daily, The Daily Mash, The Tab and The Poke, traded ahead of the board’s expectations in the first half, but has been impacted by lower traffic volumes in the first months of the second half.
This is due to Apple’s and Facebook parent Meta’s major overhaul of third-party on-platform advertising.
“Macroeconomic pressure on these key players means they have had to increase consumer engagement time on their own platforms to improve their results, which has reduced traffic sent to third-party publishers like Digitalbox,” the company said in a statement.
Digitalbox has seen a block within Google Discover cutting traffic to Entertainment Daily, and an imposed reach reduction on a leading Facebook page for The Tab.
Despite a fall in traffic volumes, session values have traded materially ahead of the market.
For the full year, Digitalbox expects to generate £2.8 million in revenues while remaining EBITDA positive.
Looking forward, Digitalbox plans to adopt AI-assisted video output creation to increase audience engagement for its brands, using assets acquired from Social Chain in August.
This acquisition has already increased the group’s social media following from eight million to over 20 million followers.
“This expansion provides a significant opportunity for the group to gain revenue in 2024 when the digital ad market is expected to recover as the company becomes less reliant on taking audiences off the major platforms,” said the statement.